MEGATHREAD Medicine A-Level subjects queries UPDATED for 2022 entry

Hi , thanks for the response . My question was more so would you assume that there’d be a disadvantage even though it’s not a requirement ? Similar to how most medicine unis don’t ask for stellar GCSEs , but you’re at a disadvantage if you don’t have 7/8/9s.

What possible reason would they have to lie about their requirements?

What is possible is that the things they do test correlate with things they do not. For example, a hypothetical med school might not assess GCSEs, but someone applying with all Cs at GCSE probably won't get AAA at A-level, so they probably won't get in on that basis.

The most relevant correlations to your question are that those with more sciences and in particular maths tend to get better results in the BMAT and to a lesser extent UCAT, so you might want to work a little harder on that. However, looking at UCAS offer rate calculator data (somewhat flawed), maths and physics are actually not well correlated at all (only psychology worse of the ones I tested) and the best were Geography, French and English Lit. Maybe you could hypothesise they interview better, or are just more likely to be independently minded people which helps in other areas? Who knows.

I'd do what you're most likely to get 3As+ in, and the ones you will enjoy the most, personally. And yep, do your research when it comes to applying.

Reply 2641

TCL

18

Original post by sierranonis

Hi , thanks for the response . My question was more so would you assume that there’d be a disadvantage even though it’s not a requirement ? Similar to how most medicine unis don’t ask for stellar GCSEs , but you’re at a disadvantage if you don’t have 7/8/9s.

I think the confusion comes from the medical schools which have "minimum GCSE requirements" which mean very little if they use GCSEs to assess applications.

For example Leeds says: GCSE: 6 A*- B or 9 - 5 including Chemistry and Biology (or Dual Science/Double Science), English Language and Mathematics.

But actually, because they use GCSEs to assess applications, they really mean you need to have 8 or 9 8/9/A* grades.

At others such as Sheffield, they state clearly that once you have met their minimum requirements, the GCSE grades are not part of the assessment.

Reply 2642

becausethenight

19

Even less - just 6 in Maths and English! And you can replace the 6 in English with IELTS :tongue:

@sierranonis we've done all the research into how med schools actually use GCSEs for 2021 so you don't have to: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/results/gcse/medical-school-gcse-requirements As @ecolier rightly says though you should do your own and it's all from med school websites and Freedom of Information requests, where med schools will say exactly what they score and what they don't.

Just to add to excellent points made already: I feel the best way to think about this is to understand that your application is assessed by a computer or at best a minimum-wage secretary for the most part pre-interview. Med schools get thousands of applications for maybe 800-200 interview slots and 400-50 places. If they didn't have a simple system admissions departments would go insane, and it's much easier to go "OK our checkbox is 2 6s at GCSE, do they meet that, great not rejected yet" than try and consider everyone holistically and decide if someone with 9 9s and 1 7 should get an interview over someone with 8 9s and 2 8s with no scoring system to distinguish and weight different parts of the application. It "feels wrong" because no one wants to think they're literally being judged on a string of numbers fed into a uni's calculations system, but with thousands of applicants there isn't much else you can do (unless you're UCL or Cambridge)

Reply 2643

sierranonis

10

Just to clarify , it’s too risky to apply here w just 2 sciences right? Especially if GCSES aren’t stellar ? Do you think it would be a feasible option presuming the admission test and personal statement was amazing ?

Reply 2644

becausethenight

19

Original post by sierranonis

Just to clarify , it’s too risky to apply here w just 2 sciences right? Especially if GCSES aren’t stellar ? Do you think it would be a feasible option presuming the admission test and personal statement was amazing ?

I, personally, would not. I think @nexttime ran the numbers in another thread and concluded that only 1 or 2 people are admitted each year with 2 sciences.

There's nothing to stop you 'giving it a go' especially with A*A*A* predicted and a very high BMAT (Cambridge assess your application holistically so we can't say never, and they don't have any GCSE requirements although they do look at them, plus they interview 80% of applicants so if you felt you could knock socks off at interview) but it just seems like potentially practically throwing away a choice. If you feel that you must try and you'd hate yourself forever if you didn't that would be a valid reason to I guess but at the very least I wouldn't do that just because 'it's Cambridge!'. Ultimately it's up to you and how much risk you can tolerate. It's not like Cardiff where we could say with confidence that you will be rejected as a non-WP applicant without 9 8/9s and it's useless to apply.

Reply 2645

nexttime

22

Original post by sierranonis

Just to clarify , it’s too risky to apply here w just 2 sciences right? Especially if GCSES aren’t stellar ? Do you think it would be a feasible option presuming the admission test and personal statement was amazing ?

Well you've got the 3% success rate stated to you there - what do you think? Is that good enough for you to 'give it a go'? What are your chances, comparatively, at other unis?

You could probably improve that number with an amazing BMAT - in normal years you can take the BMAT so that you have results before you apply, so that might be an option for you.

Reply 2646

sierranonis

10

Original post by nexttime

Well you've got the 3% success rate stated to you there - what do you think? Is that good enough for you to 'give it a go'? What are your chances, comparatively, at other unis?

You could probably improve that number with an amazing BMAT - in normal years you can take the BMAT so that you have results before you apply, so that might be an option for you.

thank you .

Reply 2647

prs33

8

Has anyone took medicine in UNI without taking chemistry A-level i know lots of universities require chemistry as mandatory but some only require Biology as a mandatory subject (like Manchester) I'm asking because I'm taking Biology , physics and maths A Levels.

thanks

I was thinking of picking bio chemistry and either maths or eng lit but I'm really stuck. People are saying maths will be more useful and most unis require it for medicine but i really enjoy eng lit and im generally better at it and feel like ill get a better grade in eng than maths. Is maths necessary?

Reply 2650

apalmer

1

Hi everybody!

I’m interested in applying for med school for next September but just wondered how much of the course is based on A level chemistry as I didn’t take it. The med schools I have looked at allow me to apply without it as I take maths and biology but if anyone could offer some insight into the course it would be really helpful as I wondered if I would be at a greater disadvantage whilst studying the course without it.

Thanks in advance.

Reply 2651

Renee.Michelle

7

Original post by Hayleyeee

I was thinking of picking bio chemistry and either maths or eng lit but I'm really stuck. People are saying maths will be more useful and most unis require it for medicine but i really enjoy eng lit and im generally better at it and feel like ill get a better grade in eng than maths. Is maths necessary?

If you’re looking to study medicine and you’re already planning on choosing bio and chem then you don’t need to do maths. I can’t think of any unis that require you to do all 3, it normally if you only do one science then they require maths as well but as you are planning to do two sciences then you’ll be fine. I’d say go for english lit if you’re better at it plus it may help with any future essay writing in uni or even just for a personal statement. Hope this helped (:

Just to add on, it’s good to have maths knowledge for medicine but there is a lot of maths in chemistry and also quite a bit in bio so you should be fine

Reply 2652

louise.edge

2

I am year 12 currently studying PE, Psychology & Sociology. I have always been unsure of what i was going to do in the future so these a-levels were not picked with anything in mind. However, i have discovered an interest & passion for medicine more recently and would like to go to med school. but now i'm stuck because all med schools require at least two sciences. There are a few foundation year programmes however many are just for international or wider access students. anyone had a similar situation and how have you dealt with it?

Reply 2653

username5567480

16

Foundation year programme is designed for any student who hasn’t done any science a levels, those are the unis I know that offer foundation year:
https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/2021/medicine-with-a-preliminary-year-mbbch
https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/2021/01430/mbchb-medicine-6-years-including-foundation-year/entry-requirements/#course-profile
https://www.uea.ac.uk/course/undergraduate/mbbs-medicine-with-a-gateway-year#course-entry-requirements

But ask your school if you could change your subjects this year, if they won’t allow you, what you could do is take biology and chemistry a level after Y13 (so in Y14). But please note that if you take biology and chemistry after Y13, med schools will consider it as a resit because they want all a levels to be taken place in two years time (what I mean by that is Y12-Y13).

Also not all med schools require at least two sciences https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5611422 And if you have a look at that link, Newcastle is the only med school that don’t need you to have any science a levels so you can still apply there and get in but you’d need a high ucat score.

Alternatively, you could try foundation year but it’s more competitive than standard undergraduate medicine.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 2654

Loco22

2

So guys Im in trouble. For past couple years Ive been wanting to medicine but for some reason I wasnt sure if thats what I wanted and I chose subjects relating to computer science for A levels. Since A levels only allow 4-5 subjects at max I chose comp sci maths further maths and physics and now I dont want to do anything with them. I really want to do medicine now and Im not sure if any university will take me because I havent taken biology and chemistry or neither have done anything extra curriculur stuff related to medicine. Im already in my final year of A levels. Any piece of advice on what I can do?

Reply 2655

username5129378

19

Original post by Loco22

So guys Im in trouble. For past couple years Ive been wanting to medicine but for some reason I wasnt sure if thats what I wanted and I chose subjects relating to computer science for A levels. Since A levels only allow 4-5 subjects at max I chose comp sci maths further maths and physics and now I dont want to do anything with them. I really want to do medicine now and Im not sure if any university will take me because I havent taken biology and chemistry or neither have done anything extra curriculur stuff related to medicine. Im already in my final year of A levels. Any piece of advice on what I can do?

complete your A levels w your current subjects right now. You have three options:
1) Take a yr out once you're done w ur current A levels and do a fast-track course in Bio and Chem and get As in them. You could do these online or get the books for the two subjects and teach yourself the content w a tutor or just online resources and then sit your final exams at an exam centre or your school privately.
2) Talk to your school and ask if you can repeat sixth form? (this is if option 1 isn't possible - fast track courses/online A levels are quite pricey). I don't know if they would let you tbh but if they don't then it's best to just self-study on your gap year or fund an online course.
3) This is probs the least favourable option - get your grades and go uni and then apply for GEM. This is probs the least useful option bcos it seems like you're sure you want to study med and so it's best to just take a gap year and get your science A- levels and apply for normal undergrad med instead of going uni to study a random course and then applying for GEM (harder, longer and more expensive). You could also consider applying for physician's associate? I've been told tht Reading and Uni of Central Lancashire offer this for undergraduate studies (normally it's a MSc course). If not, take a gap year and try and get your science A levels and then apply.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 2656

Loco22

2

Original post by HS_1

complete your A levels w your current subjects right now. You have three options:
1) Take a yr out once you're done w ur current A levels and do a fast-track course in Bio and Chem and get As in them. You could do these online or get the bocould also oks for the two subjects and teach yourself the content w a tutor or just online resources and then sit your final exams at an exam centre or your school privately.
2) Talk to your school and ask if you can repeat sixth form? (this is if option 1 isn't possible - fast track courses/online A levels are quite pricey). I don't know if they would let you tbh but if they don't then it's best to just self-study on your gap year or fund an online course.
3) This is probs the least favourable option - get your grades and go uni and then apply for GEM. This is probs the least useful option bcos it seems like you're sure you want to study med and so it's best to just take a gap year and get your science A- levels and apply for normal undergrad med instead of going uni to study a random course and then applying for GEM (harder, longer and more expensive). You could also consider applying for physician's associate? I've been told tht Reading and Uni of Central Lancashire offer this for undergraduate studies (normally it's a MSc course). If not, take a gap year and try and get your science A levels and then apply.

A fast track a levels with a gap year seems reasonable. But the teachers in my school dont think A level bio and chem is possible in one year time. So was a little confused on that because a two year gap seems like a long time. But thanks mate.

Reply 2657

username5129378

19

Original post by Loco22

A fast track a levels with a gap year seems reasonable. But the teachers in my school dont think A level bio and chem is possible in one year time. So was a little confused on that because a two year gap seems like a long time. But thanks mate.

What did your teachers suggest? I know it's difficult but it is possible if you're committed, tht's why the courses are designed to get students to complete them in a year.

Reply 2658

username5645936

2

Hey, I've just created my profile but I really wanted to ask this question.
I am currently taking Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Economics for AS. I want to drop one of the subjects next year but I am not really sure which would be best. My initial plan was always to drop Economics but I have actually been doing well and finding it a lot easier than maths. I know maths is probably more useful for medicine but I have been struggling with it lately and I just don't know if I can get the A* that I want.
Any advice would be appreciated, thanks :smile:

Reply 2659

McGinger

18

There is a large section of TSR about Applying for Medicine - includes info about the subjects required by each Uni - https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Medicine